Travels Down I-85: A CJ of the North Carolina Piedmont

[pickled_pig 7]

The TOC is fully hotlinked - simply click on the desired update and you're there!

-aaron

(edited 1.2.07 - started work on TOC)

[pickled_pig 7]

And three hours later...

Three hours?  That's a rather long dinner, you might say...

I see there's no comments.  But in keeping with Jesus' attitude in Life Of Brian, I better always look on the bright side of life - no comments means continuity between this update and the table of contents.

---

Well, I’ve finally begun this CJ, a project I’ve been talking about for too long but doing nothing about.

 

A teaser here, there… but never did I begin this journal until now.

 

Simply enough, I plan to create a journal that documents the creation of a fictitious metropolitan area – the Graham-Wellington MSA – in the North Carolina Piedmont.  In my creation there is going to be a LOT of roadgeekery – hopefully more than my previous two city journals.

 

I am drawing inspiration from both my current home of Charlotte, its outlying bedroom communities (such as Gastonia and Kannapolis), and other Piedmont cities (such as Winston-Salem).

 

A few important things to know before we go on our way:

1.      I cheat. My primary goal is to create a city that looks realistic, not necessarily to outsmart the simulator. Towards that goal I am using the great extra cheats DLL which can be found here (link)– which lets me plop buildings, have as much (or as little) money as I want, and so on, so on.

2.      This CJ will not necessarily progress in chronological order.  Although these first updates will examine Graham before I-85 gets built, later updates will be based on the part of the map that I’m working on, rather than any specific date in history.  

 

I am using the excellent map of Atlanta made by rvbaxley (link). Although not truly the Carolina Piedmont, it gets the job done better than my original choice – the map of Charlotte also found on the STEX.  I found the Charlotte map far too constraining, and trashed it for the more accessible Atlanta map.

 

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Anyway…

This is a sketch of the Graham area that I made a few weeks ago. Although not to scale, I plan to build the area to the specifications of this map.

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And as you can see in this map of Graham before I-85’s construction, I am beginning towards that goal. Again, I stress my hand-drawn planning map is not to scale.

Please feel free to comment

-aaron

(edit 12.29.06 @ 9:05 PM: and 9:08 PM  fixed formatting issues.  ouch.  That is what happens when you fail to remember to use paste from Word dialog)

[Kippis05 2]

hmmm, interesting. I like your concept.

Waiting for more

-Brandon

[sendarrow 3]

I like how you drew the map. Hope to see some close-ups soon...

[Need4Camaro 50]

I desire to see more aswell! It is Ironic that you chose the Atlanta map as I-85 travels right through Atlanta Georgia and in real life, Atlanta is probably the largest city I-85 passes through.  Here, it is 7 lanes in each direction with HOV lanes in the center on the Northeast side of Atlanta. It also joins I-75 in downtown causing it to become our nations largest freeway with somewere around  18 lanes total...

Keep us posted... I have traveled I-85 to Lexington N.C. numerous times... 

[cityhawk 12]

Hey, Aaron! I'll be sure to watch this CJ because I'm a roadgeek at heart! Nice hand-drawn map; that's something I don't think I would ever have the patience or time to do. Also, nice start with the region! rvbaxley makes some really nice maps (I'm using one of his for my next CJ), so nice choice for a region.

I look forward to more roadgeekery!

Signed,

Craig, The ST Gamerz Club

[owenluby 1]

I was always looking forward to this Aaron, and it's finally here!

I saw the link in your signature and I was surpriesed to see so many new things... (the ST Gamerz Club, par example) I have been quite inactive these last few weeks... But hot dog, we have a weiner, 'cause this looks absolutley great!

I would like to request one thing though, I just don't fully understand the US highway system... Could you explain it to me or give me a link to a page that does? When I understand it, I will be fully prepared for a great, roadgeek-heaven City Journal!

Great to see some real talent (no offence to anyone who found it so) here, at the arse-end of 2006!

wen

[dfnva 34]

Good start... I'm looking forward to seeing more as it seems you've done some extensive planning. So when you say it's the Graham-Wellington MSA, are both cities going to eventually be quite big with suburbs around, or is one a suburb of the other, or will they together be an MSA but apart be somewhat small towns?

At any rate the hand drawn map looks good. I'm not sure what the function of NC 9 is at this point as it goes away from town, but is a freeway, I'm sure you'll explain that at somepoint.

I'm looking forward to seeing this developed... I presume the JCT of I-85 and US 17 will have lots of hotels, chain restaurants and shopping to lure you off the highway as you described would occur.

Good luck!

Dan

[lilred731 0]

Can't wait to see more.

[asturianu 4]

Oh, your new CJ is here! Nice! The project sounds very interesting, and the current work on Piedmont is very good.

Waiting to see more of this work.

Cristian

And happy new year

[BlondeTwiggy 43]

great start !

[Schulmanator 5,815]

I am interested to see this one develop- and was just on it a few minutes ago getting home

[luker91 0]

looks excellent and your hand drawn maps are always good....cant wait for more pics!

Luke

[pickled_pig 7]

Replies to Comments

Brandon - Well, here is more.

sendarrow - Glad you like my methods of doing the hand-drawn maps.  It's a far refinement from my maps in elementary school...

...those maps had no sense of place whatsoever.  Roads going here and there with no sense of realistic scale.

Need4Camaro - Yeah, I've traveled through Atlanta, although not on I-85.  I lived in Florida back then, and I-75 was the most direct route there.

Off the top of my head, I believe Charlotte has the largest population of any city through which I-85 passes, but the Atlanta metro area is enormous.  Sprawl every which way.

In Charlotte I-85 is 6 lanes in the suburbs and 8 lanes through the more built-up urban parts.  Up north of Kannapolis there's a project going to widen part of I-85 into eight lanes...

Lexington... never been there exactly, but I know it's where you've got to turn to get to WInston Salem...

Craig - The roadgeekery's going to have to hold one update untiI I-85 gets "built".  But I assure you, it's coming.

And thank you for your explanation of the Gamerz Club earlier back, cryptic as it was.

Owen - Briefly, this is the US Interstate system:

In the '50s or so, in inspiration from the German Autobahn system, the United States government decided to create some expressways of its own.  The Interstate System today is divided into two and three digit interstates, each of which having its own nomenclature system:

One and Two digit interstates ending in an odd digit go north and south.  The higher number an odd digit interstate has, the more east it is likely to be.  1 and 2 digit interstates ending in an even digit go east and west.  The higher number an even digit interstate is, the more north it is likely to be.

There are a few exceptions, such as I-85 (which travels northeast to southwest) to the system.

Three digit interstates are related to a "parent" two digit interstate and always connect with that parent interstate.  The last two digits of a 3-digit interstate's number show which highway is the parent.

The first digit can be odd or even.  If it is odd, it is a loop; if it is even, it is a spur.

In the interstate highway I-485, for example, the first digit indicates that it loops, and the last digits indicate that it connects with I-85.

If you didn't understand me, maybe this will help (link).

Dan - Your first guess is the correct one.  Or so I hope.

I am planning for Graham to be a smaller, more industrial town of around 125,000 people.  Wellington, on the other hand, is the more commerce-oriented city in the region, more of an Atlanta or a Charlotte in size.

NC-9 wil probably be a freeway that partially loops around Graham in the east.  My plan is for Graham to have few 3-digit interstates, with most of them being in Wellington or connecting other parts of the metro area.

Don't remember where I said it (must've been somewhere in Winston County) but you're right in regards to what will be off the interchanges.  specially as you get out towards the suburban areas.  I began today work on the I-85/US-17 interchange with your words in mind, but I plan to make the I-85/GC-2 intersection more major.

Thanks for commenting!

lilred631 - and here is more...  Thanks for dropping by.

Cristian - I'm glad you enjoy what I have so far.  Thank you and happy new year to you also.

Twiggy - Thank you.

Schulmanator - Nice - I was on I-85 Thursday up towards Gastonia (which was, as an aside, the influence to start this up finally).  I'm not in that area much, though  - to be honest, I can go weeks without touching the interstate...

---

 

Ah, yes, quite an oldie.  In fact, I originally posted this on November 15th 2006 back in Winston County (link)

Since then I have realized that a new color and font scheme would be a good idea...

Feel free to comment

-aaron

[ky72x 13]

Hello Aaron, this is a nice CJ you have here! Like Craig, I like to think of myself as a 'roadgeek' also - I always pay attention to the streets around areas that I frequently visit, so I'll be sure to follow this CJ as well... Keep up the good work!

- Kyle

[dfnva 34]

Aaron,

Thanks for the clarification... Nice effects on those pictures. That's interesting that the I-85 / Rte. 2 intersection will be more important eve though it appears that Rte. 2 does not go into downtown, but I guess it's on the outskirts and has access to I-85 and Rte. 107.

The industrial focus of Graham looks good as there's a lot of industry like that in NC towns, and now issues of closure of such plants has been plaguing some towns. It would be interesting if that's what happens to Graham, complete with somewhat dead downtown, abandoned buildings, dead malls, while on the other side of the Rte. 9 by-pass, people are living the good life with golf courses, high-end stores, etc. Of course I'm not telling you what to do, but just a suggestion.

At any rate, Your idea is great and I can't wait to see more.

Dan

[yarabundi 3]

I like those kind of CJ's. Pic's grain makes it very realistic.

[cityhawk 12]

Very nice pics; Pic 1.3 is my favorite with the bridge and surrounding area. Yes, I'm definitely looking forward to the roadgeekery! Oh, and how The ST Gamerz Club came about won't be a mystery for too much longer...we'll see.

Signed,

Craig, The ST Gamerz Club

[asturianu 4]

OH!! Impressive work on Graham! I relly like this new CJ. It's my style!!

I think I'm going to create a new cj, Aaron, based on Washington State I-5. I had the idea long time ago, and I'm building small towns around the Skagit River and the I-5.

I like the idea, but I don't know if this idea is atractive to the rest of people. I have already a medium town called Clanton. The biggest building is 10 floors in all the region, so no highrises in all the proposed cj!

I have to say that this cj, the new is really interesting, Aaron. I like how changed Graham in those years, and the pics from 30's 40's etc are really well done,man.

Great work, and have a lucky new year!

Cristian

[Schulmanator 5,815]

Nice update. The cities look historical and your effects on the pix add to the effect. A nice start on the backstory.

[Conorjs 0]

Nice start, like how you've shown the gradual development.

[lilred731 0]

I am liking the image effects. Looks good. I like 1.4 with the hilly terrain.

[Kayean_Henser 2]

Looking good! I like the historical perspective you're giving us at the beginning of this journal.

[jacqulina 162]

excellent work you have done i love the details and planning,fantastic pics

[sc4portugal 10]

This isn really cool!

[grinch337 1]

Heh, I guess i kinda have to give you props for the hand-drawing idea. When i started on the Haydenton CJ, i stumbled across yours and liked the idea. By the way, Graham is looking pretty good, as well.

[pickled_pig 7]

Replies to Comments

Kyle - Yeah, it's great to see all of these self-proclaimed roadgeeks.  It's an unconventional interest (I think I say this way too much...) and it's cool to see others who share it.

Dan - Great suggestions, but it's still a bit premature to know exactly what'll happen.  

I am looking to have eventually a slightly abandoned city center, but I wouldn't go as far as saying NC-9's the divider between abandonment and prosperity.  Route 107 and Route 2 might end up being the divider.

You got to consider that sometimes the simulator has a mind of its own.  I have downloaded a bunch of NIMBY lots in preparation, but I've no idea how much effect they'll have.

There's actualy quite a simple reason why the route 2 interchange will be the major interchange - the route 17 interchange butts up against the edge of the city tile.  I get your point with it being the more logical choice, however.

There are news articles monthly about furniture plant closures - everything's packing and going to China.  Thank you, Richard Nixon...

Yaribundi - I was trying to make the pictures appear as if they were old color pictures that had been stored in a drawer for fifty years.  Goad you like my attempts of Photoshop work.

Craig - We'll be exploring the area in pic 1.3 a bit more this update.  Thanks for commenting!

Cristian - Your I-5 journal sounds like a fantastic idea.  I've never been to Washington but it's probably my favorite state I've never visited.  So much good music has come out of the Pacific Northwest in the past 15 years.

Graham's set to change a lot still... we'll see...

Schulmanator - Im suprised I've gone this far in the creation of a backstory.  But more and more I realize it's essential for what I'm trying to do.

Thank you for dropping by!

Conorjs - Glad you like the gradual development, thanks for commenting

lilred731 - The actual Carolina Piedmont's quite hilly, so I'm glad you noticed that - it means I didn't pick a bad map after all...

Kayean_Henser- Again, I've suprised myself with the backstory.  Glad you like it, though!

Jacky - Thanks for dropping by!

Sc4portugal - Assuming you said this is really cool,  thanks for commenting and I'm glad you enjoy the work.

grinch337 - I am imagining you were lurking in Winston County when I did that full-blown hand-drawn update?  That's what happens when one is giddy with excitement with the possibilities that arise from having a scanner...

You take the idea to a new dimension in Haydenton (both figuratively and literally) and I am very fortunate to have stumbled upon it instead of shrugging it off.

---

I have another update of pre-I85 pictures today...

...not because I'm a lazy three-toed sloth, unable to leave my tree - I have built the first segment of the highway and am currently working on its frontage around the US-17 interchange - but because downtown's grown a lot as of late.

I'm experimenting on I-85 with using frontage roads - of service roads, if that's what you want to call them.  I-85 in Charlotte has miles of reontage roads on both sides and I want to recreate that look.

Ranting aside, here it is...

I'm off to school tomorrow.  We'll be going back to updating occasionally rather than frequently.  I've had an excess of time over this break to play SC4 and update like crazy (three updates between two CJs) but real life will truly be calling...

Between now and next update I have to start the table of contents (hotlinking... arrgh!)  I have a really cool idea for its appearance, though.

-aaron

[Need4Camaro 50]

Beautiful, I have traveled U.S. 17 In Georgia, it crosses the Savanah River shortly after I-16 meets its end in Downtown Savanah... Were there plans to convert that bridge into I-16 into South Carolina? Would make a nice freeway / shortcut to Hilton Head island...

[Need4Camaro 50]

Beautiful, I have traveled U.S. 17 In Georgia, it crosses the Savanah River shortly after I-16 meets its end in Downtown Savanah... Were there plans to convert that bridge into I-16 into South Carolina? Would make a nice freeway / shortcut to Hilton Head island...

[dfnva 34]

The downtown looks great. I like how the Rte. 41 bridge seamlessly, without any descending, goes into downtown.

Keep up the good work.

Dan